Kiss of Flame
by Impy Kun
Summary: A Digimon awakes to find himself changed and in an unfamiliar place. With no clues of where to go next, he begins his search to find what exactly happened to him...and finds something more along the way. However, something else is also waking up...


_**Alright, so, this is probably the first non-one-shot I've done in YEARS. Forgive me if it needs work. Also, feel free to warn me if any of the characters seem to be turning Mary-Sue and/or Gary-Sue – I'm trying very hard to make sure that doesn't happen, but you never know. The chapter's not terribly long, but I have a hard time writing chapters over 5 pages for some reason. If there are any typos, I apologize - I re-read it like...3 times, but I probably still missed some stuff.**_

_**Also, a warning for all of you – there WILL be eventual shounen-ai and/or yaoi later on in this fic...if you can really count it as that, since Digimon technically have no genders. Either way, if you don't like that stuff, please go somewhere else. I'm not interested in flames. Constructive criticism, however, is welcome. I'm always looking to improve!**_

_**Anyway, without further ado, on with the story! :3**_

* * *

_Everything was warm here. It felt like he was wrapped in a blanket and it made him feel drowsy…sleepy. He could hear voices around him; they were soft and gentle. He'd never heard anything so soothing before; not in his entire life. Shades of pastel surrounded him, their pigments seeming to change every few seconds. He felt so calm, so at peace._

_However, despite the tranquility of the whole scene, there was still a tiny voice in the back of his mind that told him something was horribly wrong. He ignored that little voice though; after all, how could there be anything wrong in such a serene place such as this? So, he blocked out the warnings and continued to let himself float among the colors and soft sounds, wondering if this was perhaps some kind of wonderful dream…_

* * *

Large eyes slowly began to open, blinking in confusion. They quickly widened as the Digimon inside the tank realized three things. First, that he was hanging suspended in said tank. Second, the reason for his suspension was that he was surrounded by a clear, yet sickly green liquid. The final, and probably most important, fact screamed into his mind with the loudest voice; it was the fact he couldn't breathe.

Panic swept through him and his mouth opened, gasping for air that wasn't in the tank. In his terror, he began to struggle inside the container; this in turn caused his glass prison to begin to rock. For several moments, the digimon thought he was going to die until at last, just as he was beginning to pass out from his lack of air, the large tank finally fell over, smashing as it made contact with the floor.

The Digimon began coughing up the green liquid that had made its way into his lungs, gasping for air greedily. He shivered as fluid made his fur cling to his body; he heard a squelching noise and he moved into a sitting position, his form sopping wet from the substance. There were small cuts on his form, mostly on his arms, from the glass that had shattered around him, but he ignored the stinging sensations they made. He had other things to worry about.

_'Where am I?'_ The question repeated itself in his mind over and over again as he lifted his head to look around the room he was in. It smelled of must, and dust covered almost everything; obviously, the room hadn't been used in a long time. So why was he here then? How had he even gotten to this place? He should've been back in the Digital World. Back in the forest he'd lived in.

And then he remembered; he'd /been/ in the forest! He'd been fighting a Dokugumon, if he remembered correctly. The spider-like Digimon had been winning too. He recalled being close to deletion; his data had been about ready to separate. However, before the adult level had been able to deliver the final blow, there'd been a light – a data stream perhaps? – and instead of being destroyed, he'd merely slipped into unconsciousness…

* * *

"_Where…am I?" The child-level hadn't really asked the question to anyone in particular. He winced as he stood up, his bruised and battered body protesting against the movement. There were lights and loud noises everywhere – like honking, he realized. He was also on top of something; a building? He moved to the edge of it and peeked over the edge, his eyes widening at the sight that greeted his eyes._

_Humans; there were clusters of them walking down on the ground below. Some were climbing in and out of large, metallic things; he assumed they were some kind of vehicles. If there were humans here, that could only mean one thing – he wasn't in the Digital World anymore._

_He was in the human world._

_His ears flicked as he heard footsteps coming up behind him; as he turned to look he felt something – or someone - pick him up, pinning his arms to his sides. He hissed, partially to try to scare whoever it was off, mostly because being held was hurting him slightly. He glanced up and blinked in confusion as he saw that he was being held by a human…a human wearing a very odd looking mask._

"_Sedate it." He heard the voice come from somewhere behind the human that was holding him. Seconds later another human stepped up beside the one that was restraining him. This human was wearing similar attire to the first. However, he didn't linger on that fact for long, as he saw the new human pull two items out of the pockets of his clothing; one was a bottle of some clear liquid, and the other was a needle._

_He began to struggle as the needle was filled, trying in vain to free himself before he could be injected with whatever the liquid was. He unwillingly let out a squeak as the needle pierced his skin, putting the substance into his body. It only took a few moments for the material to take its effect, and soon the world was blurring around him._

_As his consciousness slipped from him yet again, he again heard the voice from before, though now it was in front of him. "It'll do for the tests; make sure it's ready for Dr. Ashina when we get back."_

_Then, everything went silent._

* * *

'_But…what'd they want with me? There has to be a reason they dragged me here.' _The Digimon stood up slowly, grunting as his body ached. He felt stiff and sore, like he hadn't moved in a while. How long had he been in that tank?! _'It looks like this' all been abandoned for a while…'_ He needed to find a way out of here.

Spotting a door nearby, he began hurrying towards it; however, he stopped as he caught his reflection in an empty tank he'd been passing. He blinked once before his eyes widened with shock. He quickly looked down at his hands, which were missing the red gloves he'd once worn, only to find that what he'd seen hadn't been a trick of the light. The fur on his body, which had once been purple, was now black in color. He looked up at the tank again, staring at himself in the glass once more. While his face had retained its white color, his eyes had changed. They were no longer bright emerald as they'd once been, but were now a deep gold. Even the yellow smiley face on his belly had changed; now it was red, and resembled a smirking devil.

'_What'd they DO to me?!'_ This had to be a dream, maybe some kind of nightmare. Before, he'd been an Impmon but now…now what was he? Some kind of freak? Dozens of questions rattled around in his brain and he didn't have answers for any of them. _'I won't figure out anything unless I get out of here…'_ He took one last look at his mirror image in the glass before bolting towards the door, intent on finding an exit.

* * *

"Damn, I'm hungry…" the Digimon sighed; his stomach growled, agreeing with his statement. He glared down at his abdomen in annoyance. "Shut up." He hopped to the next rooftop, desperately looking about to see if he could spot some source of food. The fact that he could see no fruit bearing trees discouraged him somewhat; where was he supposed to get food around here?

His ears flicked as he heard someone starting to yell and blinked in confusion, skidding to a stop. Cautiously, he peeked over the side of the building and immediately caught sight of the source of the noise – a human. The man appeared to be standing in front of some form of cart.

"Takoyaki! Get your hot takoyaki here!" The Digimon caught a rather enticing scent and heard his stomach gurgle again. He had no idea what takoyaki was, but he was getting some! It couldn't be worse than starving after all!

He waited above the cart, his tail lashing impatiently, until he was sure that the human wasn't paying attention. Finally, he leapt down and snatched a small package of the food from the cart, jumping back up to the roof just as the human turned around to yell at him. He paid the angry human no mind though as he took a seat up on the roof and sniffed at the food he had, curious. His stomach rumbled again, urging him to stop being so paranoid and to just eat the damn food.

Hunger finally won out, and the black Digimon soon found himself downing the food quickly – it tasted absolutely delicious, though the hot takoyaki burned his tongue. The discomfort in his abdomen disappeared gradually, leaving him feeling somewhat more content than he'd been before.

'_Now…what the hell do I do now?'_ The black Digimon frowned as he tossed the empty takoyaki package over the edge of the roof. He could try going back to that building for more answers but…that place had given him the creeps. He shuddered as he remembered passing through the corridors – there'd been more tanks like the one he'd been in before, but the Digimon inside them had been…disturbing. Most had been mutated or altered beyond identification, looking as if they'd been torn apart and sewn back together in the most gruesome fashions imaginable. No, he didn't like the idea of going back to that place…

But how else was he going to find out anything? He had no idea how long he'd been in that place or exactly what had been done to him, other than the obvious. For all he knew, the change wasn't just physical. It really didn't sound like he had much of a choice…

The black Digimon was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the sound of screaming coming from nearby. Raising an eyebrow, he looked over in the direction of what was the closest thing he could identify as a wooded area in this place. Moments later, two humans came running out from said area, looking terrified. His ears twitched, and he swore he could just barely hear the sound of laughter through the yelling, though that particular noise wasn't coming from neither of the humans.

Curiosity caused him to temporally forget about his previous thoughts and he bounded towards the wooded area, his sensitive ears following the joyous sound. He soon found himself perched in a tree, his golden eyes blinking down at a form that was not unfamiliar to him.

An Impmon, standing on the branch below him. The purple figure was still cackling in delight and obviously hadn't noticed his presence yet. "Gets 'em EVERY time!"

The black Digimon couldn't help but grin a little as a memory poked at the edge of his mind – he'd pulled his own share of pranks in the Digital World. It was in the nature of any Impmon to do so, really. He leaned over, trying to get a better look at the purple Digimon beneath him, but froze as he heard a dreadful noise.

The sound of a branch breaking.

**-TBC-**


End file.
